Australian Vet on Missing Live Cattle Export Ship Gulf Livestock 1 Identified

An Australian veterinarian has been named among those traveling on a live cattle export ship that disappeared after a typhoon hit the waters of southwestern Japan.

Japanese rescuers were searching today for the Gulf Livestock 1 ship carrying 42 crew members that, according to a survivor, sank during bad weather a day earlier, the coast guard said.

Queensland vet Lukas Orda, who is married with a 6-month-old son, has been named by local media as one of the Australians on board.

Orda studied at James Cook University in Queensland and worked at the Gold Coast Equine Clinic before joining the livestock export ship as a veterinary officer in June.

The vet’s last post was on June 24th and he wrote: “And the first 20-day leg of my trip begins …”

It was accompanied by a map showing it was traveling to Yantai, China, from the port of Portland in Victoria.

The Australian Livestock Exporters Council (Alec) says it understands that the other Australian on the ship is a cattle handler.

Chief Executive Mark Harvey-Sutton told ABC radio they are “eagerly awaiting” news.

“The livestock industry is a very close-knit community both here [Australia] and New Zealand so everyone is very concerned about the situation and we only hope for the best, “he said.

The Filipino crew member was rescued Wednesday night after a Japanese Navy P-3C surveillance plane spotted him wearing a life jacket and waving as he bobbed in the water.

The man, who is in good health, told rescuers the ship capsized before sinking, regional coastguard spokesman Yuichiro Higashi said.

The 11,947-ton ship Gulf Livestock 1 was carrying 5,800 cows west of Amami Oshima in the East China Sea when it sent out a call for help on Wednesday morning. The cause of the distress was not immediately known, but the weather was harsh in the area due to Typhoon Maysak.

Since then, the typhoon has passed through the area and the weather during the search is good, Higashi said.

The other members of the ship’s crew include 38 from the Philippines, two from New Zealand and two from Australia.

The ship left the New Zealand port of Napier in mid-August and headed for Tangshan on the east coast of China.

Its automatic identification system tracker gave its last position almost two days ago, according to the ship tracking website MarineTraffic.com. Based on that position, it was sailing in strong winds of 58 knots (107 km / h), MarineTraffic.com said.

The ship’s operator, Gulf Navigation Holdings PJSC, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, declined to comment. The company, which is listed on the Dubai financial market, says it owns and operates chemical tankers, cattle ships and other ships.

– news.com.au, ap